A man who was robbed in the London riots as he sat injured and in need of help has been identified as an overseas student from Malaysia.

Asyraf Haziq's plight was captured on video and uploaded onto YouTube where it has been viewed more than a million times, becoming one of the most arresting images of the disturbances so far.

The Malaysian embassy has said the 20-year-old first year student at Kaplan International College is being treated at the Royal London hospital, Whitechapel, where he is to have an operation for a broken jaw. He has suffered broken teeth.

Haziq's mother, Maznah Abu Mansor, 47, told Malaysian website, the Star: "I was initially very worried but I'm glad that he is all right. However I am not able to talk to him because of his injuries."

Haziq was bleeding from his mouth, sitting down on the pavement next to a pool of blood on Monday evening when a group of young men appeared to try to assist him, helping him to his feet, only for them to rummage through the contents of his rucksack and remove items, leaving him to stagger off in a daze. Haziq reportedly had his mobile phone and wallet taken. He was on his way to buy food to break his Ramadan fast when he was attacked at 7pm in Barking, east London, according to the Star.

There are about 13,600 Malaysian students in the UK. The Malaysian high commission in London has responded to the riots by advising Malaysians to "avoid high risk areas". In a statement on its website it says: "All Malaysians living in or visiting the United Kingdom are advised to exercise maximum alert and vigilance while they are in public places, especially in areas affected by the riots."

Dzuhair Hanafiah, president of the London UMNO Club, which takes its name from Malaysia's main political party and provides welfare services for the Malay and Malaysian community in the UK, tweeted that he had been helping students move from areas deemed to be unsafe. "Received call from female students in Peckham asked to be moved to safer place. Me and Nasri going there at 4am. It's 3.20am now."

A spokesman for the Malaysian high commission said it was providing consular assistance to Haziq and that the deputy high commissioner, Wan Zaidi, had visited him in hospital.